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Jameis Winston | Quarterback

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Bucs QB Jameis Winston went undrafted through all 40 rounds of the 2015 MLB Draft.

This should end any discussion of Winston pursuing a career in baseball, at least in the near future. Some might cite Russell Wilson spending time with the Rangers during spring training, but Wilson was a fourth-round pick by the Rockies out of high school and then selected by the Rangers in the Rule 5 Draft. Jun 15 - 12:54 PM

Former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden on Tuesday called QB Jameis Winston "an embarrassment" for the school.

"I think it's a consensus among Florida State fans and boosters that he was an embarrassment, in a lot of ways, to the university," Bowden said. "He won a lot of ball games and was probably one of the best football players that ever attended Florida State but he hurt himself off the field. The good news is he's young enough to get over that." Winston, of course, stayed in state by going No. 1 overall to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. "He just can't make those junior high school decisions he made when he was in college," Bowden said. May 12 - 7:30 PM

ESPN's Mel Kiper writes that "when I speak to people in the league, we're both stumped to find a player such as [Jameis] Winston, a No. 1 overall pick, with so many things about him that scare you to death."

The analyst didn't disagree with Tampa Bay's choice, though he doesn't think Winston is an sure thing. Kiper gave the Bucs a "B-" grade. "Donovan Smith was a reach on my board -- Oregon's Jake Fisher was available there -- but he's got a lot of experience and can come in and compete," Kiper wrote. "Will he get better? Big question. Ali Marpet has been a star of 'the process' starting with the Senior Bowl; I think expecting him to start early and play well (as opposed to just playing) is a little optimistic, but the value made sense." Kiper liked Tampa Bay's WRs picks in Kenny Bell and Kaelin Clay. May 3 - 10:13 PM

Winston (6'4/231) was a dominant college quarterback, earning the Heisman as a redshirt freshman in 2013 and leading Florida State to back-to-back BCS title game berths. Finishing his career with a 65:28 TD-to-INT ratio and sterling 66.0 completion rate, Winston consistently made the likes of Rashad Greene and Nick O'Leary look far better than they really were. While a sub-par athlete, Winston is an old-school pocket quarterback with a naturally anticipatory and aggressive passing mindset that too often resulted in interceptions in 2014, exacerbated by a poor supporting cast. Purely from a tools standpoint, Winston projects somewhere in between Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger. In Tampa Bay, he's set up for early-career success surrounded by Mike Evans, Vincent Jackson, and Austin Seferian-Jenkins in OC Dirk Koetter's vertical-passing attack. Apr 30 - 8:15 PM

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Former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden on Tuesday called QB Jameis Winston "an embarrassment" for the school.

"I think it's a consensus among Florida State fans and boosters that he was an embarrassment, in a lot of ways, to the university," Bowden said. "He won a lot of ball games and was probably one of the best football players that ever attended Florida State but he hurt himself off the field. The good news is he's young enough to get over that." Winston, of course, stayed in state by going No. 1 overall to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. "He just can't make those junior high school decisions he made when he was in college," Bowden said.

ESPN's Mel Kiper writes that "when I speak to people in the league, we're both stumped to find a player such as [Jameis] Winston, a No. 1 overall pick, with so many things about him that scare you to death."

The analyst didn't disagree with Tampa Bay's choice, though he doesn't think Winston is an sure thing. Kiper gave the Bucs a "B-" grade. "Donovan Smith was a reach on my board -- Oregon's Jake Fisher was available there -- but he's got a lot of experience and can come in and compete," Kiper wrote. "Will he get better? Big question. Ali Marpet has been a star of 'the process' starting with the Senior Bowl; I think expecting him to start early and play well (as opposed to just playing) is a little optimistic, but the value made sense." Kiper liked Tampa Bay's WRs picks in Kenny Bell and Kaelin Clay.

Winston (6'4/231) was a dominant college quarterback, earning the Heisman as a redshirt freshman in 2013 and leading Florida State to back-to-back BCS title game berths. Finishing his career with a 65:28 TD-to-INT ratio and sterling 66.0 completion rate, Winston consistently made the likes of Rashad Greene and Nick O'Leary look far better than they really were. While a sub-par athlete, Winston is an old-school pocket quarterback with a naturally anticipatory and aggressive passing mindset that too often resulted in interceptions in 2014, exacerbated by a poor supporting cast. Purely from a tools standpoint, Winston projects somewhere in between Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger. In Tampa Bay, he's set up for early-career success surrounded by Mike Evans, Vincent Jackson, and Austin Seferian-Jenkins in OC Dirk Koetter's vertical-passing attack.

ESPN NFL Insider Jon Gruden said "I'm a little leery" about FSU QB Jameis Winston as the No. 1 pick because he's "an unfinished product ... has made questionable decisions on the field and the off-field history has to be concerning."

"He will stand in the pocket under intense fire and throw strikes, which I really admire," Gruden said. "He can also throw to the wide side of the field against pressure and with tremendous anticipation in a manner you don't often see at any level of football." The commentator went on to describe a day and a half he spent with Winston ("enjoyed every second") and said he would love to coach him. That said, he was concerned by the 28 interceptions and noted "there were 12-13 other passes over the past two years that should have been picked off" and "36 false starts in two years," indicating offensive communication has gone awry. "Winston might be best off sitting for a year and learning," Gruden said. "Because when he does figure things out, he has all the talent you are looking for."

TFY Draft Insider Tony Pauline is hearing from NFL sources around the league that they're "unconvinced" FSU QB Jameis Winston "is a slam dunk as the first pick."

It would be an interesting turn of events for mock drafts everywhere, if Florida's own, Jameis Winston, is not the number one overall selection. However, Pauline has been told that Tampa Bay "will work the phones to see if they can deal the first pick, something they admitted not long ago, and Marcus Mariota is still in the mix."

FSU QB Jameis Winston has "the intelligence, confidence and talent to boom, but there are bust signs that cannot be ignored," writes NFL Media draft analyst Lance Zierlein.

You already know about Winston's off-the-field concerns, which largely contribute to the notion that the Seminole is this class' most volatile boom-or-bust prospect. Lets talk about his on-field uncertainty instead. Winston's explosive passing percentage dropped from 9 percent in 2013 to 6 percent in 2014 and his turnover-per-play ratio plummeted from 1:54 in 2013 to 1:33 in 2014, which Zierlein attributes to defensive coordinators solving him on film. "Clearly, Winston hasn't shown a consistent level of maturity up to this point and his productivity took a sharp dip in 2014 despite playing with seven offensive teammates who should be drafted this season," Zierlein wrote.

NFL Media analyst Mike Mayock said he won't give FSU QB Jameis Winston the benefit of the doubt this year after making that mistake with Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel prior to last year's NFL draft.

"I have to put my hand up and say I missed that last year with Manziel, and I'm upset with myself," Mayock said Thursday. Mayock ranks Marcus Mariota No. 1 in his QB rankings. "When kids have significant red flags, how often do they change? My perception and my experience is, plus or minus, 90 percent of the time, a kid ultimately turns into who he's always been," Mayock said. "When you get a repeated pattern of bad decisions, you might be on your best behavior leading up to the draft, you've got all kinds of people around you telling you what to say and how to act. But once you get comfortable, whether it's one year in, two years in, three years in, once you get comfortable again in the NFL and you get paid, typically that kid goes back to being who he always was."

The case against Winston is two-fold: His recklessness with the ball caused his TD/INT ratio to plummet from 40/10 in 2013 to 25/18 last season, perhaps portending future NFL problems, and his off-field issues got him compared to JaMarcus Russell by a longtime NFL personnel executive recently in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "With all due respect, and heartfelt wishes that Winston does well in everything he does, I'm just not convinced he is the best quarterback in this draft, let alone No. 1 overall, where we have him rated at NFLDraftScout.com," Cooney wrote.

"I see the body. I see the lack of focus," the executive said. "I see the same coach and system. Only Winston's not as good an athlete and his arm isn't as strong as JaMarcus'." With every single anonymous scout or executive comment, it is worth noting it is a singular opinion. Do not extrapolate one opinion as something the entire NFL believes. The NFL's track record on quarterbacks (and their implementation) is not great. With that said, the NFL does have more information on prospects than those on the outside, but we aren't applying the executive's reasoning here.

Robert Klemko of the MMQB spoke to one scout who said Jameis Winston would be the No. 2 QB on that team's board since 2011 based on pre-draft grades.

The top 10 ranking went as follows: 1. Andrew Luck, 2. Jameis Winston, 3. Robert Griffin III, 4. Cam Newton, 5. Blaine Gabbert, 6. Marcus Mariota, 7. Ryan Tannehill, 8. Blake Bortles, 9. Jake Locker, 10. Teddy Bridgewater. This just shows how much variance there is among NFL teams' boards. Again, this is based on pre-draft grades and opinion. It is worth noting that teams who feel comfortable with their starting quarterback put far less work into evaluating the top quarterbacks in each draft. Klemko notes the scout does not work with the Bucs or Titans and is not in the hunt for a quarterback this year.

FSU QB Jameis Winston will not be visiting the Jets, according to Manish Mehta.

The Jets initially wanted to work Winston out but felt they saw enough during his pro day workout. The Jets staff then hoped to bring Jameis in for a visit to cover everything other than throwing "but never connected on a date," Mehta writes, adding Jameis is "destined to go No. 1" anyways. Where both quarterbacks land on draft day will help shape the early picks.

ESPN's Mike Sando reports that some NFL team models compare Florida State QB Jameis Winston to Tony Romo "based on their willingness to make riskier throws."

Winston's 18 picks last year rank as the fifth-most in college football over the past seven seasons. Interestingly, an NFL evaluator said his team's trait-based tool agreed with ESPN's comparison tool that Chad Henne was the closest match in terms of traits measured at the combine (which isn't to say they have similar passing skills, of course).

The Bucs have "come to a comfort level with who they'll take 1st overall," according to Albert Breer.

Breer had a similar report a few months ago. The phrasing of the tweet is important, as Breer notes is is "about making sure it's right" in the next ten days. All signs point to Jameis Winston being the selection unless the ownership steps in - which is still very possible.

Citing two sources, Bob Glauber writes the Bucs will "listen seriously" to trade offers for the No. 1 pick.

It is a phrase we hear every year. However, with the uncertainty at the top of the draft, anything is possible. Jameis Winston appears to be set for the No. 1 pick, but many jumped the gun calling it a lock. Marcus Mariota is still in the hunt. Teams are in the process of finalizing their board, and owners still have a chance to get involved.